A Better Way To Track Paperwork?

Matrics makes radio-frequency identification devices that are the size of a Band-Aid and cost less than $1. It also makes RFID readers that can read hundreds of tags at one time from as far away as 15 feet. That technology helped the Columbia, Md., company land a $14 million second round of funding last week from investors led by the Carlyle Group and Novak Biddle Venture Partners.

There are smaller tags on the market, but none smaller that can be read from as far away. While RFID tags have been used to track inventory around factories, the small size and cost open up the possibility of broader uses such as applying them to track paperwork around an office.

The tag and reader were developed by a team of scientists who once worked for the National Security Agency.